We have all seen models and have a fairly intuitive idea of what they are. Some of the most familiar are the model cars, dolls, houses and planes we had as children. These really are the same idea approached from a different perspective.
A model is a representation of reality or intended reality that has only the attributes necessary to solve a class of problems.
Models can be physical or logical (informational). Information models capture aspects of a system called attributes. An information model of balls might contain the attributes diameter, purpose, pattern, color etc.